Journalist Tucker Carlson leaves Fox News

Washington [US], April 24 : America-based news channel Fox News and its host Tucker Carlson agreed to part ways, Fox News said on Monday.

In a statement, Fox News said, "FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor."

"Mr Carlson's last program was Friday, April 21st. Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named," it added.

This announcement came after Fox News settled a monster defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for USD 787.5 million over the network's dissemination of election lies, according to CNN News.

Tucker Carlson was a key figure in Dominion Voting Systems' mammoth defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which the parties settled last week on the brink of trial for a historic USD 787 million.

In some ways, Carlson played an outsized role in the litigation: Only one of the 20 allegedly defamatory Fox broadcasts mentioned in the lawsuit came from Carlson's top-rated show. But, as CNN exclusively reported, he was set to be one of Dominion's first witnesses to testify at trial. And his private text messages, which became public as part of the suit, reverberated nationwide.

Dominion got its hands on Carlson's group chat with fellow Fox primetime stars Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, and a trove of other messages from around the 2020 presidential election.

These all communications revealed that Carlson had told confidants that he "passionately" hated former President Donald Trump and said that his tenure in the White House was a "disaster." However, he took the interview with Trump recently.

Carlson's departure at Fox News comes after the network also severed ties with right-wing supporter Dan Bongino, who had been a regular fixture on the network's programming, in addition to hosting a weekend show, reported CNN.

"Folks, regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News on the Fox News Channel," Bongino said on Rumble, chalking up the exit to a contract dispute.

"So the show ending last week was tough. And I want you to know it's not some big conspiracy. I promise you. There's not, there's no acrimony. This wasn't some, like, WWE brawl that happened. We just couldn't come to terms with an extension. And that's really it."

Fox News responded in a statement, "We thank Dan for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavours," according to CNN.